TEXAS A&M TASK FORCE 1 RESCUES THREE FROM SINKING SAILBOAT IN CORPUS CHRISTI

  

A Texas A&M Task Force 1 (TX-TF1) water rescue squad, made up of members of Washington County EMS, rescued three people from a sinking sailboat in Corpus Christi during Hurricane Hanna over the weekend.

Assistance from the TX-TF1 squad, along with Water Group Supervisor and Washington County EMS Director Kevin Deramus, was requested by the US Coast Guard and the Corpus Christi Fire Department.  The team rescued two people in their 80s and the 40-year-old sailboat owner at Marina Del Sol, amid rough waters and 65 mph winds Saturday night.

The 80-person College Station-based search and rescue team was mobilized by direction of the state, in addition to seven swiftwater and flood rescue teams, to assist local jurisdictions impacted by the hurricane.

Update @3:55 p.m.: Deramus, who gave a personal account of the events that evening to KWHI, said TX-TF1 had prepositioned some water rescue assets in south Texas ahead of the storm.  TX-TF1 had two group divisions prepared for action in the hurricane, with one having three water squads: Dallas Fire, Ft. Worth Fire, and Wash Co.  Deramus and Charlie Abney served as the Water Group Supervisors, with Abney doing logistics and bringing gear and equipment.

With a base of operations in Beeville, Deramus’ group positioned in and around Corpus Christi, spending the day before the storm scouting the area for potential hazards.  It was around 8:05 p.m. Saturday night that the group received a call from Coast Guard Central Command of Corpus Christi, initially saying there were three victims on three boats in the bay, and requesting support due to extreme conditions.  Deramus said he believes the victims had direct communication to the Coast Guard via satellite phone.

All three squads responded.  On the way to the scene, they reached out to Corpus Christi Fire Chief Robert Rocha, who told them the fire department had spoken to the victims and were initially told they wanted to “ride out the storm”.  Not long after hearing that, the squads heard back from the chief saying that the victims wanted off of their boats.  On one of the boats was a couple in their 80s, with a 47-year-old on a sailboat at the end of the pier taking the brunt of the storm.  The sailboat had only one of the 19 straps holding it to the pier still intact.

Wash Co was the first squad to arrive around 8:50 p.m., with about five minutes of daylight remaining.  Deramus quickly performed an assessment of the scene, which he said had torrential rain, virtually zero visibility, and lumber and boards from the marina breaking apart scattered across the water.  The group went through three plans: dropping in to the water through the surge, going around and coming back where a concrete embankment wall surrounding the marina was located; accessing from the backside of a hotel or condo at the site; or, what ended up being the group’s decision, lowering the boat over the embankment about 20 feet down.  Deramus said the third plan was “by far the best and most accessible plan” the group had.

Deramus said Abney was able to find an area with low debris that was relatively shielded off from the wind conditions that the boats could access the water from.  Boats were in the water around 9:30 p.m., and the 80-year-old man was secured off of his boat at 9:33 p.m.  At that time, Ft. Worth Fire and Dallas Fire showed up, providing a total of five boats on scene.  After the plan was implemented, all victims were out of the water in about seven minutes.

Deramus was thankful for the coastal surf entry training that TX-TF1 performs annually at San Luis Pass, saying it prepared the teams well for Saturday night’s response.  While conditions Saturday night were decidedly more severe than what would be encountered during a training scenario, Deramus said he was told by several team members after they rescued the first victim that they felt this situation was just like their training sessions.  Deramus thanked Abney, the members of the three squads that responded and assisted, and the Coast Guard for their efforts in rescuing the victims Saturday night.

TX-TF1 functions as one of the 28 federal teams under FEMA’s National Urban Search and Rescue Team, and as a statewide urban search and rescue team under direction of the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM).  TX-TF1 also coordinates the state’s swiftwater rescue program and the helicopter search and rescue team, which works in conjunction with the Texas Military Department.